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Australian Baseball Tour of Redlands has been good to Redlands coach

The 25th anniversary of the Australian Baseball Tour of Redlands begins as the Aussie Expos are expected to arrive in Redlands today. The opening game is scheduled for Monday at San Manuel Stadium. Pictured: The Redlands Nine-O-Niners, a team consisting of players from Redlands, Redlands East Valley and Citrus Valley High Schools and Arrowhead Christian Academy.

The Redlands Nine-O-Niners, a team made up of players from Redlands, Redlands East Valley, Citrus Valley and Arrowhead Christian Academy, will take on the Aussie Expos in the 25th anniversary of the Australian Baseball Tour of Redlands this coming week.
Photo by Ed Castro

REDLANDS >> Like anyone associated with the Australian Baseball Tour of Redlands, coach Gary Pool refers to the international baseball tour with words like “camaraderie,” “friendship” and “family.”

Pool is in his 14th season as coach of the Redlands Nine-O-Niners, the local team that hosts a five-game series against the visiting Aussie Expos.

“The camaraderie is great,” Pool said. “You see kids for maybe five or so days every year but you hug and you cry. The way a family will adopt a kid, it’s just really something. When they leave, people are crying.”

The Tour is celebrating its 25th anniversary. This season’s opening game is Monday at San Manuel Stadium.

The five-game series pits the Nine-O-Niners, a team of players from Redlands, Redlands East Valley and Citrus Valley High Schools and Arrowhead Christian Academy, against high school aged athletes from throughout Australia.

The Aussie Expos were scheduled to arrive in Redlands today for a meet-and-greet at the Mentone Lodge.

“It’s seems like it was yesterday when we did last year’s games,” Pool said. “Times goes fast. All of a sudden it’s time for another one.”

Pool was an assistant coach for the Redlands High School varsity baseball team when then head coach Bob Hernandez asked if he was interested in coaching a Tour team. Back then there were two local teams, one for younger players and one for older players.

“We had seven or eight players from each school (RHS and REV) and put them together on one team,” Pool said. “We came out here and had a ball. We’ve been having fun ever since.”

Pool just completed his 15th season as an assistant baseball coach at Redlands High School, his eighth season as the Terrier’s pitching coach. He attended Redlands High School, San Bernardino Valley College and was a 1982 draftee of the Oakland Athletics.

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Pool has seen lifelong friendships develop over the years on the Tour, between players and families alike. It happens just about every year, he said.

“It’s about baseball, it’s about a family affair, it’s about bringing someone new into your family; it’s all of that,” Pool said. “It won’t end anytime soon. The more family’s hear about it, the more they want to get involved.”

Pool said, for him, one of the more interesting developments is watching as players from the local schools - usually fierce rivals during the school year - unite for the Tour.

“That is really unique to watch,” Pool said. “All the kids know each other. It can be odd. At games the head coaches from the schools see me and the kids shaking hands and the kids are giving me hugs. It’s more than just being on a team with these kids. There are my kids.”

Nine-O-Niner families host members of the Expos, which often leads to friendships Pool said can last for years.

“It’s just such a unique setting,” Pool said. “We’ve got people here from the other side of the world. It isn’t just baseball. They become friends. It’s neat to watch. They become a part of each other’s family.”